Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 User Reviews
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Excellent
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"Great Performance"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
-Simple
-Effective
-No advertisementsCons
-Huge,slow first update
-The icon in the taskbar has nothing but "open"
(it could at least have more options such as "update" and "disabling "
-No manual quarantine
-Slow scan
-Slow removingSummary
I said all I should say but
the version is the 4th but the review is abot the second one,what s going on with CNet?!!!! -
"Simple and effective, but lacking in features"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
MSE is a good free antivirus. I especially like that it doesn't require periodical renewal. It also has such a simple interface that anyone can use it.
Cons
There are a few flaws, however, that made me decide on a different product.
MSE does not allow the user to schedule definition updates. It updates automatically once a day, and again before each scheduled scan, if that option is selected. That means it is only downloading one (or maybe two, if the scan and the update are far enough apart) definition update per day, which may not be enough for zero-day viruses. Also, the notification icon does not alert you of outdated definitions until they are a week old, which could be really bad. If the computer is turned on after having been off for days, MSE takes its sweet time before checking for updates, when it should check as soon as windows has loaded.
Lastly, MSE does not allow the user to schedule more than one type of scan. I would like to be able to run a full scan once a week, and a quick scan the other six days, but MSE does not offer that option.Summary
Simplicity is a good thing, but a good antivirus should have more customizable settings than this. For these reasons, I switched to something different.
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"Faster than McAfee"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
Seems to run better than McAfee on my netbook in 7 Starter crap.
Cons
None so far
Summary
I was pleasantly surprised to find my netbook running faster after removing McAfee and replacing it with MS now. This Dell Inspiron has always had lackluster performance, but seems to be marginally better now. Next up will be to replace Win 7 starter with something like XP.
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"awesome Trojan & virus killer"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
this MS essential program killed off Trojans and viruses that even Avg,McAfee,F-secure,Malwarebytes, and many others i tried could not kill off or clean out. and this program did it. all i can say is this program is worth its weight in GOLD. it killed off generic28.andc and zero-access.BX and backdoor.generic15.axla, and Trojan.win32.generic!BT, also Trojan.generic, and last Virus:dos/taipan_666.B when nothing else could clean them off it did it.
Cons
non that i can see as of yet.
Summary
simply awesome program and great for when you have an issue. would recommend it to any one for any thing.
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"Great product."
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
Very easy to use and non intrusive.
Cons
Can not think of any.
Summary
Have not had any problems or issues.
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"excellent piece of security"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
have benn using it for 3 years on both my 4gb ram laptop and my 8gb ram pc with no problems what so ever
Cons
nothing till now
Summary
outstanding and reccomended
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"Love it,Love it"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
Works well and is sooo easy to use.
Cons
Can't think of any because I haven't found any?
Summary
What can I say other than I have used Microsoft Security Essentials since it's conception and I am proud to say I have never had a problem with it.Love the easy to use program and hate paying big bucks to put in someone's pocket?
Keep up the godd work Mr Microsoft, luv ya.
Maninblack. -
"REAL GOOD PROTECTION FOR THE PRICE..."
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
Its done everything it,s supposed to so far. I have it on three computers and it works great.No problems so far.....
Cons
none..Ive been using it almost since it came out ..works good so far for me
Summary
For free its pretty good,haven,t had any problems and it doesn,t slow down my computer.I know that there are others out there that may be better but for free,its worked great for me.
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"Very good for home users small business"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
Very good product, light and had no issue with it. I removed Avast who created number of slow performance on my family PC and used MS security essential, so far, no problem or infection
Cons
Lack of additional features.
Summary
Very good product that you can depend on from the software giant.
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"Great detection and non intrusive"
Version: Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0
Pros
Great detection rates,low false positives light on resources integrates well with windows good at removing malware and most importantly cleaning up infections ,got this running on 3 computers recently done a scan with 2 other paid antivirus programs using the free online scanner ,nothing else detected that MSE had missed .
Also nice easy to use interace no extra bloat ,nag screens or useless programs like other AV programs and no adverts like many other free AV programs.Cons
Scan speed could be improved
Summary
Avira has a nag screen prompting you to buy full paid version everytime it updates :(
Updated on May 5, 2012
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